The world island or The World is a small archipelago (called an island group or group of islands or an island chain, cluster, or a collection of islands) artificial island constructed in the shape of a world map. It is located in the water of the Persian Gulf (a Mediterranean sea in western Asia), 4.0 km off the coast of Dubai in UAE. The World islands are composed mainly of sand dredged from Dubai’s shallow coastal water and are one of several artificial island developments in Dubai city. The world’s developer is Nakheel Properties (It is a property developer based in Dubai, UAE. It was founded in 2000, 20 years ago), and the project was originally conceived by the ruler of Dubai city sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum. The construction was done by two dutch (joint venture) specialist companies Van Oord and Boskalis same companies were created also the Palm Jumeirah.
- Van Oord:
Royal Van Oord is a dutch-family owned maritime contracting company that specializes in dredging. Land reclamation and the construction of man-made islands the company has undertaken many projects throughout the world, including land reclamation, dredging, & beach nourishment.
• BosKalis:
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global dredging & offshore contractor & maritime services provider company that provides services relating to the construction & maintenance of maritime infrastructure international. This company has one of the largest dredging fleets, a large stake in Smit International & owns Dockwise, a large heavy lift shipping company. The company was founded in the year of 1910, almost 110 years ago.
In 2003, the Construction of 300 islands began, before halting due to the 2008 financial crisis, though 60% of the islands were sold to the private constructors in 2008. The development of most of the island has failed to initiate. As of July-2012, Lebanon Island was developed and was the only island that had so far been developed commercially, being used for private corporate events & public parties.
As of late 2013, only two of the islands had been developed, in the month of January 2014, Kleindienst Group announced the launch of the heart of Europe project.
By Feb. 2014, one of Kleindienst Group brand-JK properties –announced in their monthly newsletter that the project was the “Well Underway”, the first series of islands will be Europe, Sweden & Germany with the development led by “Kleindienst Group”.
History of the Project:
This project was unveiled in the month of May 2003 by Sheikh Mohammad and dredging began 4 months later in Sep 2003, by January 2008, 60 percent island were sold, 20 of which were bought in the first four months of the year 2007.on 10 January 2008, the final stone on the breakwater was laid, completing development of the archipelago. As of the month July 2012, the second island, the Lebanon Island was developed and was the only island that has so far been developed commercially; it is used for private corporate events & public parties.
Project:
Island in the project range from 14,000 to 42,000 square metres (150,000 to 450,000 sq ft) in area, distances between islands average 100 metres (330 ft), they are constructed from 321,000,000 cubic metres of sand and 386 million tons of rocks.
Designed by the Creative Kingdom Dubai, the development is an area that covers 6 by 9 kilometers and is surrounded by an oval-shaped breakwater island
Roughly 232 km of shoreline was created. The world’s overall development costs were estimated at $ 13 billion CAD in the year 2005. The world island (archipelago) consists of seven sets of islands, representing the continents Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, North America, Antarctica, and Oceania. Each artificial island is named for its representative country landmark/ region like the United Kingdom, Australia, California, Mount Everest, New Mexico, New York, India and etc.
Projects difficulties:
Project difficulties, the times online reported in the month of September 2009 that the work on The World has been suspended due to the effects of the global financial crisis.
in Feb. 2010, Daily Mail reported that the islands had started sinking back into the sea. it was later denied by Nakheel & independent technical reports as wholly inaccurate.
Despite the denial, the daily telegraph reported in Jan 2011 that an independent company, a penguin marine, provided verification on the erosion of islands and the silting of the passageways between the islands.
Due to finance & technical problems, penguin Marine, the company, contracted to provide transportation to the archipelago, is attempting to get out of annual fees of 1.6 million $ paid to Nakheel properties
Property price in the emirates had fallen 58% from their peak in the fourth quarter of 2008; the world economic recovery from the “Great Recession” (it was a period of marked general decline (recession) observed in national economies globally that occurred between 2007 and 2009) has resulted in a rebound for Dubai real estate market.
It has been reported that residential prices (Dubai) rose by 17.9 percent from August 2012-2013, while rents soared by 14.9 percent in the same period
The purchase and development plans for the project:
Archipelago (the World) was supposed to be serviced by four major transportation hubs linked by waterways.
The land parcels are supposedly zoned for various uses estate, mid-density and high density, reports, and commercial. The plan was for totalities to be routed underwater, with water plants at each of the hubs pumping freshwater to islands.
The power was to be supplied by Dubai Grid and distributed through underwater cables; however, as of Feb. 2015, no cables had been laid. So that developers currently have to provide their own power from diesel generators. Wastewater & refuse systems are individual concern for each island. Nakheel Group is itself further developing the resort named Coral Island over the 20 islands that make up the North American part of The World; the low-rise development will include a marina & hotel village.
The second-largest confirmed development is the purchase of 14 islands that make up Australia & New Zealand by the investment Dar of Kuwait.
In 2008, Salya Corporation announced that it has acquired the islands of Finland & Brunei The World planned to develop them into fashion-themed resorts.
Salya spent Dh800 million to purchase islands and plans to spend a further Dh2.4 billion on development Brunei Island will be turned into a Fashion TV ( it is an international & lifestyle broadcasting television channel, was founded in France in 1997 by its polish-born president Michel Adam Lisowski) resort & Finland will be turned into the Fashion community called FTV palace.
Conclusion:
The world or The World Islands is the archipelago of a small artificial island located in the water of the Persian Gulf in Dubai, UAE. It is constructed in the shape of a “World Map”, the construction of the project was done by two dutch (joint venture) specialist companies called Van Oord & Boskalis. The construction of 300 islands was begun in 2003, though 60% of islands were sold to private constructors in 2008 due to the financial crisis. On 10 Jan 2008, the final stone on the breakwater was laid, completing the development of the archipelago. In July 2012, a second island, Lebanon Island was developed and it was the only island that has so far been developed commercially at that time, it is used for private corporate events & public parties.
